.
Welcome to my Lucky 13th installment of BOTB's Battle Of The Booze!
.
My headbone went through so many different idears for this BOTB installment that I began to feel like a horse's patootie switching jackasses in midstream! I finally rolled the dice, flipped the coin, consulted my Magic 8-Ball and then settled on this: Zevon zong versus Zevon zong!
.
I've always loved me some Warren Zevon. The dude had a twisted, sardonic sense o' humor, much like mine own. Warren has to be one of the most famous One-Hit-Wonders in music history.
.
1978: Zevon's zong 'Werewolves Of London' was just starting to get some radio airplay when I walked into the Licorice Pizza store on Wilshire Blvd. in helL.A. (Any of you old-timers remember that record store chain?)
.
.
Zevon's album 'Excitable Boy' was on display next to a sign that said if one bought the LP and didn't like it, they could return it for a FULL REFUND! That was exceedingly unusual in '78. Since I'd heard and liked the 'Werewolves' song, I purchased the album.
.
Did I return to Licorice Pizza? Yes, I did. But NOT to return the LP I'd purchased. I returned to buy his earlier album, the self-titled 'Warren Zevon', which I liked even better than 'Excitable Boy'.
.
Fun Fact: Zevon wrote the hit song 'Werewolves Of London' while in a friend's house in Venice, Italy helL.A. According to one source, the house was actually located along one of the Venice canals, where I used to hang out playing "Huckleberry Sawyer" on borrowed rafts in the very early '80s. I'd usually bring a bottle along to keep me company. The canals looked like this then:
.
 |
| Venice canal in helL.A., photo by "Huckleberry Sawyer" (STMcC), circa 1982. |
.
Today, the rebuilt houses along those same canals go for multiple millions of buckaroos! (Look HERE! and dream on.)
.
I saw a werewolf drinkin' a Piña Colada at Trader Vic's
And his hair was perfect!
~ 'Werewolves Of London'
.
In 'Desperados Under The Eaves' (1976), Zevon zang about drinking a whole lotta Margaritas, see?...
.
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn't lyin'
All the salty Margaritas in Los Angeles
I'm gonna drink 'em up
~ 'Desperados Under The Eaves'
.
Fun Fact: Zevon's favorite place for Margaritas in Los Angeles was El Coyote Mexican restaurant. And I agreed with him on that point. It was El Coyote for Maggies but it was > Antonio's for Mexican cuisine. (Enchiladas Oaxaca! Hot-Dog!! Best food whole the world.)
.
.
OK, you know what to do: LVV!
(Listen, Vote & Visit... the other BOTBers.)
.
Alright, let's get on it.
Let's get ON this thing!
.
WEREWOLVES OF LONDON
by Warren Zevon
.
.
DESPERADOS UNDER THE EAVES
by Warren Zevon
.
I'll be Bach on or about July 22nd with my own vote & the final tally.
.
~ Stephen T. "AAOOOOoooo" McCarthy
Hello Stephen!.
ReplyDeleteIt's werewolves for me. The song just has a lot more pep to it. Plus, one can make a drinking game out of it - every time he sings 'AAOOOOoooo' you take a shot.
I've got ELO and Kraftwerk duking it out on my page today. Hope you all can stop by.
Busy week. Managed to push the chemo date out by 3 weeks. Gonna get a bunch of battles and posts written ahead of time.
-MMQE
MMQE ~
DeleteI will certainly be by to contribute my two shots of Everclear to your BOTB punch bowl, or my name isn't Mary Poppins! (Well, let's not get all caught up in unimportant details. I mean, after all, what's in a name?)
Wow! It sounds like you're organized and planning ahead an' smart stuffs like that. I may have to try that approach someday and see if it works for me.
See ya pert-dern soon at the telephone booths.
~ D-FensDogG
It was big news when he died. My heart goes out to his family even though he died a while back.. I vote for werewolves of L9ndon. I just love the uniqueness of the song.
ReplyDeleteThis took me 3x as l9ng because I'm falling asleep! I hate this
BIRGIT ~
DeleteWakey, wakey! Wake up, sez I!
Thank you for coming by with two shots o' sumpin' for the BOTB punch bowl!
I remember when I first learned that 'Werewolves' had been written in a house at the Venice canals, I thought: Well, OF COURSE it was! Duh! Pez are hard to load.
~ D-FensDogG
VOTE = DESPERADOS
ReplyDeleteAnother tough choice. I have always loved to sing along with Werewolves of London. I think Desperados did it for me because of the melancholy mood and arrangement of the song. London, to me who has only been there once, is an exotic and exciting place. Hollywood and LA in general may be purdy durn exotic, but I have been there many times, and I have no particular desire to go there again. Nevertheless, the mood of Desperados Under the Eaves hit me just right. So, there. ~Ed.
EDUARDO ~
DeleteThanks for contributing to my Zevon extravaganZa!
I was bornt & razed in L.A. but I got the hell out of Hell in October of '92. (Truth be told, it was a pretty terrific place to be young in the 1960s through 1985.)
I was unexpectedly SENT BACK to helL.A. in March of 1994. God wanted to teach me a lesson, and it HAD to happen in Los Angeles! Almost a year & a half after learning my lesson, I was free to leave again... which I did.
~ D-FensDogG
Loved the tour of Venice! I never had the chance to visit during my many trips to California. It looks beautiful! 🌴
ReplyDeleteWarren Zevon's tragic death has left a huge void in the music world! 😢 'Werewolves' is one of my favourites and I love the Piña Colada line especially. Another vote for the wolf! 🐺 AAOOOOoooo!! Mary's drinking game idea sounds like fun. 🍹
DEBBIE D'DOGLADY ~
DeleteSpecial thanks for coming by while on your blog break to "bote" in my Battle!
According to some sources, Venice Beach has now surpassed Disneyland as the most frequented tourist attraction in helL.A. And I think you'd LOVE it.
Funny thing is that even a LOT of Angelenos are unaware of the Venice Canals, which are only about 4 or 5 blocks from the beach. Everyone goes to the beach - which is a very unique place - never knowing how close they are to the canals.
Venice Beach was actually crazier, more run-down and dangerous in the '70s, but it's still an odd must-see place. I would describe it as a weirdo beach carnival.
If you ever find yourself with 30 minutes to spare (with a glass of wine to drink) and want to take a super cool virtual tour of the beach, click here:
[Link> Venice Beach - From North To South At Sunset
That's the best video I've found. You get to see the beauty at sunset, along with a few weirdos. (I remember the piano-playing guy on the boardwalk in front of the Sidewalk Cafe. He was there back in the '80s, too.) And the video ends at the ocean with waves crashing against the rocks while the sun is disappearing behind the Pacific. Really terrific video that definitely takes me back 4 decades+.
~ D-FensDogG
I have an email to reply to from you that touches on this battle, but having finally come to ground for 10 days after a LOOOOOONG drive, I am going to vote first and "rEply" later.
ReplyDeleteI love Warren Zevon, and fully intend to vote for him no matter what anyone says. I will NOT be disuaded. I also bought (and still own) the Excitable Boy album when it came out. The whole thing is good but my favorite is the very catchy "Lawyers, Guns and Money."
Obviously I will like both songs presented here. My vote is going to "Desperados Under the Eves." It has a melancholy and introspective feel that appeals to me. I love the strings at the opening.
Given recent events, I am firmly going back for a time to the moniker you gave me long ago,
sincerely,
Sheboyganboy Six
SHEBOYGANBOY SIX ~
DeleteI sincerely thanks ya for voting for Warren Zevon in this Battle. He needed all the help he could get because he was beginning to fall quite a bit behind his competitor.
The Magic 8-Ball told me that the Werewolf will win this Battle, but that the Desperados will put up a goot fight, and I believe *this* 8-Ball!
Happy Trails to you, Six!
"Be seeing you".
~ McD-FensDogG
Hi-Ho Steverino!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a great fan of Warrren Zevon, though I do enjoy "Werewolves of London" and "Lawyers, Guns, and Money." Anyway, I did start listening to "Desperadoes," and ten minutes later, when I woke up, I said, "hey, I still haven't heard the song." So I put it on again, and the same thing happened. I took that as a sign. "Werewolves" wins by me.
SIR JOHN ~
DeleteI'm pleased as spiked punch that I was able to offer you an exceptional remedy for the insomnia problems you've struggled with in the past.
The bill's in the mail.
~ Doctor DogG
Fantastic battle, Stephen! I've always enjoyed "Werewolves of London" I'd sing along in the car taking my daughter to school "little old lady got mutilated late last night..." she gasped, "Mom! It doesn't say that!" I promised to play it as many times as she wanted to hear it when she got home from school ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut, Holy swampy concrete river fish! Desperados is a jarringly beautiful song. I'm gonna have to think about this...I'm off to watch the video ;-)
dEAR dIEDRE ~
DeleteWarren was definitely a stand-out lyricist, and many of his songs have been amusing me for decades and decades, and for quite a number of YEARS, too!
I LOVE that you couldn't decide on how to vote in a single listening session and need to return later to try again. That's what I call "CLOSE".
I really did go back and forth, up and down, and round and round trying to figure out what match-up I should present in this installment of BOTB. My problem is that I have *TOO-DERN-MANY* options and only half-a-brain to decide with.
~ D-FensDogG
Okay. I listened to both again. And again. ;-)
DeleteWhat a tough decision! My vote goes to Werewolves - for levity. My thoughts will stay awhile on both songs.
Cool video! Just when I gave up on seeing any ducks - there they were ;-)
dIEDRE ~
DeleteYour well-considered BOTB "bote" is greatly appreciated. Even as I type these words, it is being echoed all up and down Gower Avenue: "She voted for the Wolves! She voted for the Wolves!" ;^D
~ D-FensDogG
And Stephen....
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough one, I love both songs. I been had been to Lee Ho Fooks in London Chinatown and I think I showed or shared the photo with you. I was a little surprised that it was an actual place as I thought Werewolves was a work of mostly fiction. And I do believe we were Desperados under and above the eaves many times together when you were straightening out my life. This is a tough choice but I'm going with Desperados Under the Eaves as it has a bit more elevated language and is in my opinion more poetic than Werewolves.
Maybe you should have put Werewolves up against Will the Wolf Survive by Los Lobos. Ughhhhhhh! But no, but no, but no!
JW,
Pooh
...AND, GENERAL POOHREGARD, THAT'S NOT ALL!...
DeleteThank you, my straightened-out friend, for coming by with a pint of SoCo for the BOTB punch bowl. If not you, who? If not now, when?
I remember driving by the Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills many times and thinking: I really should go in there for a pina colada. But I never did. I always went to Kelbo's for a Coco Bowl instead, doggone it! And you know what Kelbo's leads to, don't ya?!
I'm sure glad you showed up here, buddy. Because I was concerned that Warren was going to beat Zevon badly; but it looks like a fight now, instead of just a show.
~ Tiki-Boy Stephen
Hey! I have a memory of us going into Trader Vics together for drink before it closed. But I could be wrong. I think we had to wear sports coats. Or! maybe we were turned away because we didn't have sports coats.
DeleteActually he was referring the Trader Vics in London in the song.
...AND, POOH...
DeleteThe latter is more likely.
I deny ever owning a sports coat!
(Maybe they loaned us a couple sports coats, but... I deny having ever worn a sports coat... or a suit! Any photos you may have to the contrary have been photo-shopped with AI & CGI & CIA know-how! ;^)
~ Denying DogG
As mentioned, this was a tough one for me. I love the onomatopoeia that Zevon uses in his tunes - not just the obvious awoo of the Werewolves chorus, but the air conditioner hmm hmm that's so oddly clever and catchy.
ReplyDeletePooh said it well above. Desperados is just a bit more poetic, and I really enjoy the lyrics of that one. Give that one my bote.
Also, I do love the song, but am I the only one that hears Werewolves of London and always hears Sweet Home Alabama/Kid Rock?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKiyAt5ULJU
JULIO 6-B ~
DeleteI'm pleased as spiked punch that you came by with some "evidence" for the BOTB community bowl.
This has actually turned into a very, very tight race which either song could win at this point. It's always tough on a challenger when you put it up against a big Top 40 hit, but Zevon is holding his own against that Warren fella.
As for the Kid Rock & Sweet Home Willoughberry connection, I myself am pretty much in agreement with the following comments found on that page:
Werewolves of London is pretty different; All Summer Long deliberately sampling from two different popular songs is what does it.
All Summer Long is literally a sample of Werewolves Of London with a Sweet Home riff laid on top.
Kid Rock is annoying af.
~ D-FensDogG
This Warren vs. Warren battle reminded me of the relatively famous joke referenced below, as used by Mark Twain, G.K. Chesterson, Lewis Carroll, Aldous Huxley and others:
ReplyDeletehttps://quoteinvestigator.com/tag/homer/
“The poems of Homer were not written by Homer himself, but by another man of the same name.”
The songs of Warren Zevon may not have been written by Warren Zevon, but by another man of the same name. We will never be able to be sure!
Six
SIR SIXY ~
DeleteGOL! That's a goot juan, mi amigo!
I always said I had the best blog readers & commenters. Sometimes I worry that a few of them may have taken the Yabba-Jabba-Doo and left early for the Happy Hunting Grounds .
But your comment was like ye olde days.
And having done semi-extensive research into this subject, I concur with your analysis. Long ago I came to the conclusion that roughly half of Warren Zevon's zongs were written by the *other* Warren Zevon.
When starting up my first blog, 'Stephen T. McCarthy's STUFFS, I hinted at this dual Zevon identity in that blog's header, when I wrote:
“There's a sadness in the heart of things,” said the second Z-man. The first Z-man added, “It's life, and life only.” The Wizard warned, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” But then I dreamed the answer and I told it to them: “We have fallen asleep in God's embrace, having a nightmare that we are elsewhere.” So, now you understand what this Blog’s "stuffs" is all about.
I was concerned at the time that perhaps I'd said too much, but it seems that the truth has finally been set free. (ye shall free the truth, and the truth shall make you know.)
Great comment, McBrother. Thanks!
~ Ye Olde D-FensDogG
Al Bondigas here. Very interesting battle here. I like Werewolves Of London, it's a fun catchy song and I never get tired of hearing it, but there is something about songs with a wistful, pensive feel to it that I am always a sucker for. It's weird, but I tend to enjoy the very high energy songs or the slower melancholy songs much more than the ones in the middle. I guess I'm an extreme judge. Anyway, rulin' fer Desperados Under The Eaves by one of those two Zevon guys. That's it!! That's muh rulin'.
ReplyDelete>>... I guess I'm an extreme judge."
DeleteWHO DAT?! Who dat say "extreme" when I say "Unexcitable Boy"?!!
You use words like "Wistful" and "Pensive"?
You know, punk, that guys've been kicked outta 'The League' for far less. You iz treading on thin ice, my friend. (Ask Pooh about what happens while treading on thin ice. If he pretends not to know whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis, just say these two remindful words to him: "Lake Arrowhead". That'll shake up his memory like a martini shaken, rather than stirred.)
Thanks for your rulin', juez extremista (extremisto?).
~ Judge DogG
And what was the first thing that arose from the thin ice?
DeleteExactly what SHOULD have been the first thing to rise from below the thin ice: your bottle of... BEER!
DeletePooh, I was never more proud of you in my life! That's when I knew you were a "keeper", and that I'd never throw you back. ;^D
~ D-FensDogG
ATTENTION PEOPLES!
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in seeing the final vote tally for this 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' installment and my closing thoughts on it, you can put the following URL into your browser:
https://stmccpresentsbattleofthebands.blogspot.com/2024/07/botb-results-2024-july-15-or-pina.html
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'